There are several problems encountered in a production of bacon as presently available on the market either in slab form or more conventionally packaged in the form so generally recognized by the public. By way of example, pork bacon is a product made from the select portions of the belly area of a hog. These belly areas are primarily those carcass areas where the movement of the hog causes flexure which produces a muscular fat structure that is different from other fatty areas of the animal. Due to this muscular development, the fat takes on a particular character when cooked, having a distinctive type flavor and a distinctive type bite which is well recognized by butchers and the general public as bacon. Additionally, there are at least three different muscular and fat to meat ratios in the so called bacon type pork belly which produce different flavors and bites when cooked in the usual manner by the consumer. It is, therefore, very difficult for the meat processors to produce uniform bacon type and flavored products even though every portion of the selected belly areas are processed in the precisely same manner.
A further problem arising from the conventional method of producing bacon is caused by the accumulation of nitrites and nitrates in the final consumer product. When the bacon is cured in the conventional manner as practiced universally today, the cure mixture includes some form of nitrites and nitrates in small amounts. This additive is well known for its property of causing red meat to turn a bright red color and to keep the color for relative long periods to enhance the market-ability of the product over relatively long time spans since the buying public has been indoctrinated to the fallacy that only bright red meat is edible and unspoiled premium product. The nitrites, in a solution, are pumped into the belly with hollow needles which more often than not cause the internal parts of the belly meat to expand creating voids, resulting in numerous internal accumulations of curing solution in these voids which are, in the trade, referred to as "pickle pockets". These pockets cannot be readily removed and therefore become an integrated part of the treated belly.
After the pumping process, the belly is placed in a vat or other suitable container containing a water soluble cure solution. As is well known in the meat processing art, the fatty portions of the belly repel the water soluble cure solution, but the meat areas which are porous accept the cure solution. The result of this absorption of cure solution is that the nitrates and nitrites may, and often do, collect in dangerous quantities in the red meat during the curing step and if the accumulations are extensive, consumption of such meat containing the concentrated accumulations may be detrimental to the health of the consumer as will be pointed out. An added problem results from the fact that the pickle pockets do not slice evenly when the pork belly is later sliced and these slices are put into bacon ends and pieces that are added to the usual commercial package beneath the usual exposed attractive slices or are packaged and sold as bits and pieces which must be marketed at a lower price.
As pointed out, the use of nitrites and nitrates in bacon cure has been discovered to pose a potential health hazard to humans. Many recent studies have discovered that the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines is caused by the reactions between various nitrites and nitrates in secondary amines. Numerous experiments have shown that nitrosamines can be stored in the stomach in quantities such as to induce the growth of tumors. Reference is made to the following reports which substantiate the above statement as to the potential hazard of nitrites and nitrates in processed meat, it being understood that by no means are these isolated reports made on this subject, to wit, being exemplary only.
"The Role of Lean and Aclipose Tissue on the Formation of Nitrosophyrrolidine in Fried Bacon" 1070-Journal of Food Science-Volume 22, No. 6, Page 1026, Nov./Dec., 1974. PA0 "Nitrosamines Studies: Neoplasms of Liver and Genital Mesothelium in Nitrosopyrrolidine Treated MRC Rats" Journal of National Cancer Institute, Vol. 48, pages 1687-1969, 1972.
Thus, it can be stated that potential hazard of ingesting nitrosamines has been recognized by the Government and limitations of use of sodium nitrite are placed on plants operating under federal inspection by the meat inspection division of the USDA. According to these regulations, sodium nitrite should not exceed 200 parts per million in the product after curing and processing. With the product of the subject invention, no problem is encountered in meeting such standards since the nitrite is not used in the cure. As stated above, the present invention produces a "red meat" appearance without the addition of nitrite.
In addition to the process by which commercial bacon is produced, there have been attempts to produce a "bacon" substitute. A prime example of such a substitute is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,496 which discloses a method of forming a bacon substitute product utilizing bacon ends. In this process, bacon ends are frozen and then chipped in a meat chipper to produce pieces of bacon approximately 1/4 inch in thickness and weighing from 6 to 8 ounces per chip. A meat addition, consisting of a portion of the animal with a high gelatin protein content such as cured ham shanks is ground in a conventional manner. The frozen chipped bacon ends and meat addition are then placed in the grinder and ground together. After grinding, egg white is added to act as a binder in the resulting mixture.
As is obvious, the product produced by the following teachings of this patent can by no means be characterized as "bacon".